


universal magic

by Anonymous



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, M/M, Secret Relationship, it was meant to be a metaphor for homophobia but it didn’t really work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29596209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Renjun gets dirty looks as they walk past, his protection ring, and studded ears are all anyone needs to know that he comes from a hunters guild. The looks only fade when they see his pinkie linked with Jaemin’s - his silver hair and sharp nails tell everyone all they could ever need to know.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Comments: 11
Kudos: 33
Collections: Challenge #5 — I heard a secret..





	universal magic

**Author's Note:**

> This is so short but oh well, here you go

There is something in the air tonight. Everything is fluid. It feels like the kind of night where things can happen.

Jaemin can feel it fizzing underneath his skin as looks out at the calm sea in front of him. The waves are shallow and gentle, but by the time they get to the shore, they’ll be bigger. There’s a strong wind hitting his back, but not quite hard enough to stop him from sitting on the railing right at the edge of the pier. It’s more fun that way.

“You’re going to fall in if you’re not careful,” A voice says from behind him, and Jaemin has to stop himself from laughing. Renjun is nothing if not predictable.

He peers over his left shoulder, smiling. The bright, neon lights frame him perfectly. Renjun is wearing black jeans and a black denim jacket that jaemin recognises as the one he got Renjun for his birthday. Underneath the jacket is a light purple hoodie. The bright, vivid lights of the pier frame him perfectly, neon colours against a gentle figure. He looks soft. He also looks cold. It makes him wonder why they're meeting at the end of the pier, and not somewhere warmer.

“Yeah, your mum would love that, wouldn’t she?” Jaemin coos, but he swings his legs back over and gets down anyway. Renjun gets vicious when he’s pissed, and that’s no good, not tonight. “How long have we got?”

“A few hours, if we’re lucky. Why? You got plans?”

Jaemin hums. He does, actually, but Renjun doesn’t have to know that. They don’t get to see each other very often and he is not going to be the one to cut this meeting short. “You’re family aren’t going to miss you for a while, then.”

He says it like a statement, but it’s more of a question, really. Renjun’s family are… complicated. They keep erratic work hours, moving with the lunar cycles and the movements of the sea. It’s a pretty typical work schedule for hunters. Jaemin never knows when they're going to be shore side and when they’re going to be at sea.

“They’ve gone to a hunt meet with my aunt and uncle a county over, they won't be back until tomorrow morning. Chenle might notice I’m gone but he won’t say anything unless I’m not back by curfew.”

“Good,” Jaemin says, and he leans forward and looks his pinkie finger around his boyfriend’s. He can’t hold his hand properly; Renjun has a protection ring on his index finger that burns against Jaemin’s skin. It stings enough with this minimal contact.

They get doughnuts, and the oily, sweet smell clogs up Jaemin’s nose. It’s early spring, but it smells like summer evenings. He knows he’s going to remember this smell forever. Renjun starts talking about his day, about Chenle’s new puppy. He pulls up pictures on his phone and they scroll through them as they stroll up and down the pier.

Thursday evenings are never very busy, but it’s a half term so there are more kids around than normal. There’s a fair few baseline humans, but Jaemin can tell that most of them are Others. there’s a couple of telekinetics in line for the rollercoaster, levitating a stuffed dinosaur plushy between them. A little behind them in the line is a kid wearing a pack identifier bracelet - definitely a werewolf.

Renjun gets dirty looks as they walk past, his protection ring, and studded ears are all anyone needs to know that he comes from a hunters guild. The looks only fade when they see his pinkie linked with Jaemin’s - his silver hair and sharp nails tell everyone all they could ever need to know.

It’s half the reason they meet in areas like this, places where the Baselines and The Others can mingle freely. The separation is slowly being faded out of society but even here, in one of the busiest cities in the country, people take note of a hunter’s child being with an Other, particularly an Other like Jaemin. There aren’t many places they can be together without word getting back to Renjun’s parents.

It’s painful, but it’s the way things are right now. One day jaemin will be able to walk down a busy street in the daytime and hold his boyfriend’s hand. Today is not that day. Today, Jaemin is going to link pinkies in the dark surrounded by people who won't rat him out, and he’s going to take what he can get. 

It wouldn’t be the end of the world if Renjun’s family found out about their relationship. Renjun already has a job, separate from hunting, at the local publishing company. He’s be able to support himself financially just fine if his parents disowned him. Emotionally though, Jaemin doesn’t know if Renjun would cope.

Hunters are insular - they’ve been that way for centuries. Hunters know other hunters, marry other hunters, have hunter families. They’re almost like a cult in that way. Jaemin, who was raised among hundreds of others of his kind, no parental figure in sight, only sort of gets it. There’s no need for parents where he’s from. the shoal supports the shoal.

So he tries to be understanding of Renjun, who doesn’t have that support, grew up around people who shared his parents views and no one else.

They spend the hours like that, just talking softly. It’s nice. Gentle. It passes by too quickly. Eventually, Renjun has to leave, to make it back before his curfew. It’s the same way all of their dates end - bittersweet, the taste of sugar curling around his mouth. Renjun leads him back to the furthest point of the pier, presses his lips against Jaemin’s, and lets go of his pinkie.

Jaemin doesn’t bother to watch him go. Instead, he peers over the railing at the sea. He’ll see Renjun again. He just hopes that it’s not on one of the Huang family’s hunting trips, for both their sakes.

**Author's Note:**

> bonus points if anyone can guess what kind of other Jaemin is, I feel like it’s pretty obvious haha


End file.
